Towards local identity in South African architecture

Abstract

In 1965, Paul Ricoeur (2007:42), referring to globalisation, highlighted the following paradox: ‘The encroachment of universal civilization, while improving some qualities of life, erodes those that are most vital and creative – one’s attachment to and knowledge of self in relation to place’.

Ricoeur (2007:52) believes that ‘we have to go back to our own origins’ in order to deal with the expanding universal culture. He states that in order to confront a foreign culture, one must first have a culture and identity of one’s own. Part of this need is for an architecture that will express local identity. Since then globalisation as a phenomenon has established itself as a dominant economic and cultural reality. This has greatly increased the need for groups and countries to express their distinct cultural identities in the face of the threat of universalisation. South Africa is no different as far as this is concerned and the changes that have taken place since 1994 have dramatically increased the need the country has in this regard.